Online personalities in far-right and white nationalist online circles are attempting to attribute racism and anti-Semitism to an image of cartoon character Pepe the Frog depicted poorly drawn and as a clown, and that effort has gained notable traction in recent months. Far-right proponents want the broader internet to believe the character directly represents their worldview, but the situation in whole represents an attitude shift in far-right circles online and a slow inching toward even more radical elements of the movement.

The clown render of Pepe the Frog, which KnowYourMeme researchers have identified as being known as “Honk Honk” or “Honkler,” began spreading across the internet last year. In recent months, the meme has gained a foothold in the far-right and is bleeding into racist propaganda. Pepe the Frog, originally from the comic series “Boy’s Club,” was co-opted by an iteration of the white nationalist movement that emerged in 2015 and dubbed itself the “alt-right”—a term created as part of a strategy to obscure the inherent racism and antisemitism of the movement in hopes of making its agenda more palatable among conservatives.

On 4chan, there is an abundance of memes depicting the character lynching black people (depicted in stereotypically racist ways), operating gas chambers, and deploying racial slurs. On February 11, users on 4chan’s “politically incorrect” forum board launched “operation honk,” a campaign with the mission of spreading the character across the internet and boosting its popularity, and then returning the character back to 4chan where it could be associated with racism. The “Operation Honkler” post cited by KnowYourMeme reads: “They will adopt our child, and post Honkler on social media under mainstream memes already in circulation. There will come a time when we must take him back. … Whether of the HONK or not, we must perpetuate this meme to show the world our ideas.”

The sentiment of the “Honkler” meme has also appeared in written format on venues where images won’t fit. A clown emoji and a globe emoji together has been used to convey the phrase “clown world” where the phrase isn’t written out fully. Such references can be found in numerous Twitter profiles, including that of Rebel Media personality Martina Markota, who Salon reported in 2017 as having ties to the far-right. “Honk Honk” memes were also used by “Microchip”—a pseudonym used by a far-right troll who made waves propagandizing in favor of Donald Trump during the 2016 election— to replace slurs and curse words in his posts on Gab.

The phrase “clown world” and accompanying emojis unify far-right social media users in their exasperation over an imagined state of collapse in the Western hemisphere that they largely blame on immigrants and minority groups. The force driving “Honkler” across the far-right is the same bleak worldview that led white nationalists to embrace Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. In their minds, if there is nothing that they can do to stop the supposed “great replacement” of white people in their “homelands” and no politicians who care enough about their cause to implement real policies that favor their agenda, they may as well accept the outcome and wrench whatever they can out of the system, like Yang’s promise of $1,000 per month universal basic income. This mentality is often referred to as “black pilling.”

“Honkler” and “clown world” memes were recently incorporated into “Goy Talk,” a new but growing web-based white nationalist podcast. The show’s hosts advocate white nationalism in a detached way, and embody the same increasingly nihilistic attitude among the white nationalist and white supremacist movements in the United States conveyed in the repetition of the phrase “clown world.”

“Goy Talk” hosts express racist and anti-Semitic views as a staple of their programming, with guests that include David Duke, Christopher Cantwell, and Patrick Little. Nevertheless, they are ultimately nihilistic about the state of the world and their ability to change it without mass-organized action reminiscent of the violent writings of James Mason in his book, “Siege.”

A March 28 episode of “Goy Talk” opens with a heavily edited video featuring the Honkler character, and one of the display images used for a show host is edited in “Honkler” style. Additionally, the hosts of “Goy Talk” have modified their profiles on Twitter to include clown imagery.

The Twitter account for “Goy Talk” posted an image yesterday of an anti-Semitic meme modified to depict a racist caricature as a clown.

_________________I could be the catalyst that sparks the revolutionI could be an inmate in a long-term institutionI could dream to wide extremes, I could do or dieI could yawn and be withdrawn and watch the world go byWhat a waste...

It seems like no matter where you go there is a definition of "unsavory character"--people you're not supposed to associate with.

For the left, the most unsavory characters are whites who have internalized the belief that there is something exceptional and special about Western (primarily European) culture that has made it more successful than other cultures. Really, that seems to be the gist of so called "white supremacy" from what I can tell--the celebration of the achievements of Western culture--the culture from which sprang our very Constitution and Bill of Rights--essentially OUR culture. We're not living in Africa. We're not living in China. We're not living in Pakistan, for God's sake. We're living in a culture derived from European thought and discourse. And should there really be any doubt that Western culture has achieved great things, at least when compared to most other cultures?

Conversely, for the right an "unsavory" character would typically be a criminal who has broken the law--murderers, rapists, dealers in illegal addictive substances and what not. However, for the left, such criminals are "underprivileged" (especially if they are minorities) and therefore merely victims of dominant culture.

In short, the left is pretty fucked up. HOWEVER, the unfortunate problem is that probably 90% of the media have somehow become fixated on leftists beliefs, literally to the point that many of us tow the PC line (or else pretend to) out of sheer terror that we will be ostracized and humiliated by others around us if we don't. In effect the tide is so overwhelming in the direction of the left that resistance is enormously difficult and comes at great price to one's social status as well as dignity.

_________________"Service guarantees citizenship"

Welcome to the Maddrive Dogthru!

"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important." - Bertie Russell

_________________This post is not a legal document under any circumstance. It has not been prepared at all and is written offhand in jest while mentally impaired.Do not act or rely on any of this information without first seeking the advice of a psychoanalyst.

It seems like no matter where you go there is a definition of "unsavory character"--people you're not supposed to associate with.

For the left, the most unsavory characters are whites who have internalized the belief that there is something exceptional and special about Western (primarily European) culture that has made it more successful than other cultures. Really, that seems to be the gist of so called "white supremacy" from what I can tell--the celebration of the achievements of Western culture--the culture from which sprang our very Constitution and Bill of Rights--essentially OUR culture. We're not living in Africa. We're not living in China. We're not living in Pakistan, for God's sake. We're living in a culture derived from European thought and discourse. And should there really be any doubt that Western culture has achieved great things, at least when compared to most other cultures?

Conversely, for the right an "unsavory" character would typically be a criminal who has broken the law--murderers, rapists, dealers in illegal addictive substances and what not. However, for the left, such criminals are "underprivileged" (especially if they are minorities) and therefore merely victims of dominant culture.

In short, the left is pretty fucked up. HOWEVER, the unfortunate problem is that probably 90% of the media have somehow become fixated on leftists beliefs, literally to the point that many of us tow the PC line (or else pretend to) out of sheer terror that we will be ostracized and humiliated by others around us if we don't. In effect the tide is so overwhelming in the direction of the left that resistance is enormously difficult and comes at great price to one's social status as well as dignity.

The happiest nations are the most willing to defend what they have. Always.

How about you?

_________________The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt

It seems like no matter where you go there is a definition of "unsavory character"--people you're not supposed to associate with.

For the left, the most unsavory characters are whites who have internalized the belief that there is something exceptional and special about Western (primarily European) culture that has made it more successful than other cultures. Really, that seems to be the gist of so called "white supremacy" from what I can tell--the celebration of the achievements of Western culture--the culture from which sprang our very Constitution and Bill of Rights--essentially OUR culture. We're not living in Africa. We're not living in China. We're not living in Pakistan, for God's sake. We're living in a culture derived from European thought and discourse. And should there really be any doubt that Western culture has achieved great things, at least when compared to most other cultures?

Conversely, for the right an "unsavory" character would typically be a criminal who has broken the law--murderers, rapists, dealers in illegal addictive substances and what not. However, for the left, such criminals are "underprivileged" (especially if they are minorities) and therefore merely victims of dominant culture.

In short, the left is pretty fucked up. HOWEVER, the unfortunate problem is that probably 90% of the media have somehow become fixated on leftists beliefs, literally to the point that many of us tow the PC line (or else pretend to) out of sheer terror that we will be ostracized and humiliated by others around us if we don't. In effect the tide is so overwhelming in the direction of the left that resistance is enormously difficult and comes at great price to one's social status as well as dignity.

The happiest nations are the most willing to defend what they have. Always.

How about you?

Nero, I've stood up and spoken my beliefs. I haven't remained completely silent. That's why I had a change of heart to begin with. I've spoken up when I saw people on the left saying stupid stuff. The vast majority of people around me at that point booed and hissed and jeered at me for it. As far as they're concerned, I'm the village idiot and that's all they'll ever think. Meanwhile they'll pat drug dealers and convicted felons on the back and cry over what poor victims they are and how they've had all the tough breaks in life. At this point I can't muster the care anymore. I'll be just as happy to watch them destroy each other, which they are happily doing to themselves because their whole belief system is self destructive and built on cynicism and nothing more.

_________________"Service guarantees citizenship"

Welcome to the Maddrive Dogthru!

"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important." - Bertie Russell

...The happiest nations are the most willing to defend what they have. Always.

How about you?

Nero, I've stood up and spoken my beliefs. I haven't remained completely silent. That's why I had a change of heart to begin with. I've spoken up when I saw people on the left saying stupid stuff. The vast majority of people around me at that point booed and hissed and jeered at me for it. As far as they're concerned, I'm the village idiot and that's all they'll ever think. Meanwhile they'll pat drug dealers and convicted felons on the back and cry over what poor victims they are and how they've had all the tough breaks in life. At this point I can't muster the care anymore. I'll be just as happy to watch them destroy each other, which they are happily doing to themselves because their whole belief system is self destructive and built on cynicism and nothing more.

I rest my case.

But then what s wrong with you?

_________________The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt

Nero, I've stood up and spoken my beliefs. I haven't remained completely silent. That's why I had a change of heart to begin with. I've spoken up when I saw people on the left saying stupid stuff. The vast majority of people around me at that point booed and hissed and jeered at me for it. As far as they're concerned, I'm the village idiot and that's all they'll ever think. Meanwhile they'll pat drug dealers and convicted felons on the back and cry over what poor victims they are and how they've had all the tough breaks in life. At this point I can't muster the care anymore. I'll be just as happy to watch them destroy each other, which they are happily doing to themselves because their whole belief system is self destructive and built on cynicism and nothing more.

I rest my case.

But then what s wrong with you?

What do you mean what is wrong with me? Can you elaborate a little on your question? I'll be happy to answer if you can be less vague.

_________________"Service guarantees citizenship"

Welcome to the Maddrive Dogthru!

"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important." - Bertie Russell

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum